The market adoption of wireless LAN (WLAN) technology has exploded, as users from a wide range of backgrounds and vertical industries have brought this technology into their homes, into their offices, and increasingly into the public air space. This inflection point has highlighted not only the limitations of earlier-generation systems, but the changing role WLAN technology now plays in people's work and lifestyles, across the globe. Indeed, WLANs are rapidly changing from convenience networks to business-critical networks. Increasingly users are depending on WLANs to improve the timeliness and productivity of their communications and applications, and in doing so, require greater visibility, security, management, and performance from their network.
As enterprises and other entities increasingly rely on wireless networks, monitoring and management of the components implementing the wireless network environments becomes critical to performance and security. To ascertain the coverage and other performance attributes of a wireless network deployment, prior art processes, such as site surveys, typically involve a human tester roaming throughout the wireless network environment with specialized equipment, such as a WLAN tester, that sweeps the wireless coverage area and stores the resulting data for analysis of one or more attributes of the wireless network deployment, such as the coverage provided by each access point, and the signal-to-noise ratios associated with the coverage area of a given access point. Such site surveys, however, are time consuming and expensive. In addition, the analysis of the wireless network environment is performed with data gathered at a single point in time and, therefore, is not responsive to periodic or subsequent changes associated with the wireless network environment (such as new or intermittent sources of RF interference, etc.). In addition, the test equipment may be located in areas where use of wireless client devices is infrequent or unimportant.
In light of the foregoing, a need in the art exists for methods, apparatuses and systems that facilitate analysis of coverage in wireless network environments. A need further exists for methods, apparatuses and systems that allow for analysis of coverage that is responsive to changing or varying conditions in wireless computer network environments. A need further exists in the art for methods, apparatuses and systems that allow for analysis of coverage in wireless network environments that obviate the need for dedicated test equipment and expensive site surveys. Embodiments of the present invention substantially fulfill these needs.